Remember what happens on the day of ordination. On that blessed morning, a young levite,
overwhelmed by the sentiment of his own unworthiness and weakness, prostrates
himself before the bishop who represents the heavenly Pontiff; he bows his head
under the imposition of hands by the consecrating prelate. At this moment the Holy Spirit descends upon
him and the eternal Father is able to contemplate with ineffable complacency
this new priest, a living reproduction of His beloved Son: Hic est Filius meus dilectus. While the bishop holds his hands
extended and the whole assembly of priests imitate his gesture, the words of
the angel addressed to the Virgin Mary are accomplished anew: “The Holy Spirit
shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.” At this moment, full of mystery, the Holy
Spirit takes possession of this chosen one of the Lord, and effects between Christ
and him an eternal resemblance; when he rises, he is a man transformed: “Thou
art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Blessed Columba Marmion, Christ – The Ideal of the Priest
